By Warren Kozireski —
Seven players from New York State—four from the New York metropolitan area, two from Buffalo and one from the North Country—are among the National Hockey League Central Scouting preliminary list for the 2023 NHL Draft to be held June 28-29 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Tanner Adams (Northport), Drew Fortescue (Pearl River), Quentin Musty (Hamburg) and Carey Terrance (Akwesasne) are listed as “B” draft prospects meaning likely second or third round selections while Ryan Fine (Center Moriches), Michael Hagens (Hauppauge) and Gavin McCarthy (Clarence Center) are “C” list projected as fourth, fifth or sixth round selections.
Adams, a 5’11”, 174 lb. forward skating for Tri-City in the United States Hockey League (USHL), is committed to attend Providence College next fall. The Long Island Royals product already had six points in his first nine games this season with the Storm.
Fortescue, a Boston College commit for 2023, is a 6’3”, 170 lb. left-shot defenseman with the U.S. National Team Development Program, where he registered three assists over the first 13 games this fall.
Musty is a 6’2”, 205 lb. left wing playing his second season with Sudbury in the Ontario Hockey League after coming out of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres program. He had four goals and ten points over the first 11 games in the young campaign.
Terrance stands 6’1” and 174 lb. The center already had five goals and nine points in the first 13 games of the Erie Otters campaign—already halfway to the ten-goal mark he had all of last season with the team.
Fine is a teammate of Fortescue with the National Program. The 6’0”, 183 lb. forward had two goals in his first four USHL games this season. He recently announced his switch from committing to Boston College to Harvard next fall.
And Hagens will join Fine with the Crimson next year. The 6’0”, 165 lb. defenseman dons the Chicago Steel uniform in the USHL for his first season there and had one assist over the first 11 games. He previously played with the Long Island Royals and Mount St. Charles Academy in Rhode Island each for two seasons.
In addition, Cornell University commit and Mount St. Charles Academy forward Chase Pirtle is ranked as a “C” prospect.
As of Nov. 1, the New York Rangers have two first round selections in 2023 after dealing Nils Lundqvist to Dallas for a conditional (non-top ten) pick while the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres each still own their own picks.
